Ancient genomes provide insights into family structure and the heredity of social status in the early Bronze Age of southeastern Europe

Žegarac, Aleksandra; Winkelbach, Laura; Blöcher, Jens; Diekmann, Yoan; Gavrilović, Marija Krečković; Porčić, Marko; Stojković, Biljana; Schreiber, Mona; Wegmann, Daniel; Veeramah, Krishna R.; Stefanović, Sofija; Bürger, Joachim

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-89090-x

Cited by 32 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Male lineages in both Bk-II and Bk-III are mostly defined by Y chromosome haplogroup I2a-L1229 (Table 1), for which network analysis (Supplementary Information section 2.2) narrowed down regional affinities to the North European plain and shows continuity between these two horizons. Uniparental diversity makeup points to a patriarchal social structure similar to previously reported Bronze Age findings 9,11,15 . Results are highly similar to previous observations on Encrusted Pottery culture at the Jagodnjak site (Croatia) 10 .…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 84%

“…A number of studies addressed population historical questions in Prehistoric Europe by recovering major events connected to the pre-Neolithic hunter-gatherers (HG) [1][2][3] , their assimilation to early European farmers during the Neolithic era 2,[4][5][6] , and the appearance, expansion and admixture of steppe ancestry during the Eneolithic / Late Copper Age to the dawn of Early Bronze Age 4,7,8 . While some of these studies are essential for understanding the foundation of the European gene pool, studies are sparse in the literature that uncover regional interactions or social stratification via kinship [9][10][11] . Additionally, except for a few well-known markers in most archaic studies -e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Interdisciplinary analyses of Bronze Age communities from Western Hungary reveal complex population histories

Gerber

Szeifert

Székely

et al. 2022

Preprint

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In this study we report 20 ancient shotgun genomes from present-day Western Hungary (3530 - 1620 cal BCE), mainly from previously understudied Baden, Somogyvar-Vinkovci, Kisapostag, and Encrusted Pottery archaeological cultures. Besides analysing archaeological, anthropological and genetic data, 14C and strontium isotope measurements complemented reconstructing the dynamics of the communities discovered at the site Balatonkeresztur. Our results indicate the appearance of an outstandingly high Mesolithic hunter-gatherer ancestry in the largest proportion (up to ~46%) among Kisapostag associated individuals, despite this component being thought to be highly diluted by the Early Bronze Age. We show that hunter-gatherer ancestry was likely derived from a previously unrecognised source in Eastern Europe that contributed mostly to prehistoric populations in Central Europe and the Baltic region. We revealed a patrilocal residence system and local female exogamy for this Kisapostag population that was also the genetic basis of the succeeding community of the Encrusted Pottery culture, represented by a mass grave that likely resulted from an epidemic. We also created a bioinformatic pipeline dedicated for archaeogenetic data processing. By developing and applying analytical methods for analysing genetic variants we found carriers of aneuploidy and inheritable genetic diseases. Furthermore, based on genetic and anthropological data, we present here the first female facial reconstruction from the Bronze Age Carpathian Basin.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interdisciplinary analyses of Bronze Age communities from Western Hungary reveal complex population histories

Gerber

Szeifert

Székely

et al. 2022

Preprint

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“…We also observe rich infant graves, JAG82 and JAG93, with the latter containing gold hair rings. These individuals were too young to have achieved wealth or status themselves, suggesting vertical inheritance, likely from family, which has been observed at other Transdanubian Encrusted Pottery contexts (Supplementary Text S2) as well as other archaeological cultures in Bronze Age Germany and Serbia 6,10 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…The beginnings of social complexity in southeast Europe has also been an area of intensive study among archaeologists 4 . Increasingly, ancient DNA studies have explored intracommunity social organisation, revealing residency patterns, biological kinship and the social status of past societies [5][6][7][8][9][10] . For example, closely related individuals have been identified in Late Neolithic and Bronze Age communities from across Europe, often in association with high mitochondrial and low Y chromosomal diversity, indicating female exogamy and a patrilocal social organisation [5][6][7] .…”

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confidence: 99%

Reconstructing genetic histories and social organisation in Neolithic and Bronze Age Croatia

Freilich

Ringbauer

Los³

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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Ancient DNA studies have revealed how human migrations from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age transformed the social and genetic structure of European societies. Present-day Croatia lies at the heart of ancient migration routes through Europe, yet our knowledge about social and genetic processes here remains sparse. To shed light on these questions, we report new whole-genome data for 28 individuals dated to between ~ 4700 BCE–400 CE from two sites in present-day eastern Croatia. In the Middle Neolithic we evidence first cousin mating practices and strong genetic continuity from the Early Neolithic. In the Middle Bronze Age community that we studied, we find multiple closely related males suggesting a patrilocal social organisation. We also find in that community an unexpected genetic ancestry profile distinct from individuals found at contemporaneous sites in the region, due to the addition of hunter-gatherer-related ancestry. These findings support archaeological evidence for contacts with communities further north in the Carpathian Basin. Finally, an individual dated to Roman times exhibits an ancestry profile that is broadly present in the region today, adding an important data point to the substantial shift in ancestry that occurred in the region between the Bronze Age and today.

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“…All newly generated individuals with an average human coverage more than 0.03× were selected to assess kinship relationships up to the third degree ( Saupe et al 2021 ; Wang et al 2021 ; Žegarac et al 2021 ). We divided the individuals in different groups regarding their geographical area and resulting relationships.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Genetic Origin of Daunians and the Pan-Mediterranean Southern Italian Iron Age Context

Aneli

Saupe

Montinaro

et al. 2022

Molecular Biology and Evolution

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Summary The geographical location and shape of Apulia, a narrow land stretching out in the sea at the South of Italy, made this region a Mediterranean crossroads connecting Western Europe and the Balkans. Such movements culminated at the beginning of the Iron Age with the Iapygian civilisation which consisted of three cultures: Peucetians, Messapians and Daunians. Among them, the Daunians left a peculiar cultural heritage, with one-of-a-kind stelae and pottery, but, despite the extensive archaeological literature, their origin has been lost to time. In order to shed light on this and to provide a genetic picture of Iron Age Southern Italy, we collected and sequenced human remains from three archaeological sites geographically located in Northern Apulia (the area historically inhabited by Daunians) and radiocarbon dated between 1157 and 275 calBCE. We find that Iron Age Apulian samples are still distant from the genetic variability of modern-day Apulians, they show a degree of genetic heterogeneity comparable with the cosmopolitan Republican and Imperial Roman civilisation, even though a few kilometres and centuries separate them, and they are well inserted into the Iron Age Pan-Mediterranean genetic landscape. Our study provides for the first time a window on the genetic make-up of pre-Roman Apulia, whose increasing connectivity within the Mediterranean landscape, would have contributed to laying the foundation for modern genetic variability. In this light, the genetic profile of Daunians may be compatible with an at least partial autochthonous origin, with plausible contributions from the Balkan peninsula.

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Ancient genomes provide insights into family structure and the heredity of social status in the early Bronze Age of southeastern Europe

Cited by 32 publications

References 69 publications

Interdisciplinary analyses of Bronze Age communities from Western Hungary reveal complex population histories

Interdisciplinary analyses of Bronze Age communities from Western Hungary reveal complex population histories

Reconstructing genetic histories and social organisation in Neolithic and Bronze Age Croatia

The Genetic Origin of Daunians and the Pan-Mediterranean Southern Italian Iron Age Context

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